Connecting means for connecting relatively soft parts of a doll

ABSTRACT

A doll comprising parts formed of relatively soft flexible synthetic resin hollow parts which are connected together by connecting means formed of relatively hard less flexible synthetic resin. The connecting means connect the doll parts in such a manner that the parts are prevented from inadvertently separating from each other while being used but allowed to be moved relative to each other by the user. The connecting means also serve to prevent water and the like from invading into the hollow parts through their connected portions.

United States Patent [191 Nakajima June 18, 1974 CONNECTING MEANS FORCONNECTING RELATIVELY SOFT PARTS OF A DOLL [76] Inventor: KoichiNakajima, No. 7-8 Chuo l-Chome, Edogawa-ku, Tokyo, Japan [22] Filed:Mar. 12, 1973 [21] Appl. No.: 340,315

[ 30] Foreign Application Priority Data Oct. 6, 1972 Japan ..47-l 15488[52] US. Cl. 46/173 [51] Int. Cl B63h 3/46 [58] Field of Search 46/173[56] References Cited UNlTED STATES PATENTS 1,938,865 12/1933 Schaef fer46/173 Primary Examiner- Antonio F. Guida Assistant'Examiner-J. O. LeverAttorney, Agent, or Firm-Hammond & Littell [5 7] ABSTRACT A dollcomprising parts formed of relatively soft flexible synthetic resinhollow parts'which are connected together by connecting means formed ofrelatively hard less" flexible synthetic resin. The connecting meansconnect the doll parts in such a manner that the parts are preventedfrom inadvertently separating from each other while being used butallowed to be moved relative to each other by the user. The connectingmeans also serve to prevent water and the like from invading into thehollow parts through their connected portions.

1 Claim. 7 Drawing Figures CONNECTING MEANS FOR CONNECTING RELATIVELYSOFT PARTS OF A DOLL BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relatesto a synthetic resin doll andmore particularly, to synthetic connectingmeans for connecting the parts of the doll against inadvertentseparation of the parts while allowing the parts being moved relative toeach other by the user.

There have been proposed a great variety of connecting means forconnecting parts of synthetic resin dolls together. However, any of theprior art connecting means cannotsatisfactorily connect the parts ofdolls together and while being used, the doll parts connected togetherby such connecting means frequently separate from each other to give theuser inconvenience. In order to prevent the doll parts frominadvertently separating from each other, some improvements have beenmade on the connecting means for synthetic resin doll parts. However,such improvements inevitably add further steps to the process forproducing such connecting means resulting in increasement of cost.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, an object of the present inventionis to provide improved and novel connecting means for con necting theparts of a synthetic resin doll which can effectively eliminate thedisadvantages inherent in the priorart connecting means.

Another object of the present invention is to provide relatively hardless flexible synthetic resin connecting means for connecting relativelysoft flexible synthetic resin parts of a doll.

According to the present invention, there have been provided connectingmeans for connecting the relatively soft flexible synthetic resin partsof a doll together comprising a relatively hard less flexible unitaryinsert assembly which includes a first pan-shaped insert member adaptedto be connected to one of two doll parts to be connected together and alarger diameter second pan-shaped insert member to be connected to theother part of said parts to be connected together and receiving saidfirst insert member-having a circular bottom adapted to fit on theassociated doll part and provided with a center opening and an uprightperipheral wall and said second insert member having a center circularbottom the diameter of which is smaller than that of the associatedinsert member, an inner upright peripheral wall extending upwardly fromthe periphery of said bottom and an outer upright peripheral wall spacedfrom and connected to said inner wall so as to define an annular openingthere between'for-receiving said peripheral wall of the first insertmember, said outer peripheral wall of the second insert member beingadapted to fit in the associated doll part.

The above and other objects and attendant advantages of the presentinvention will be more readily apparent to those skilled in the art froma reading of the following detailed description in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings which show a preferred embodiment of the inventionfor illustration purpose only, but not for limiting the scope of thesame in any way.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective elevationalview of a doll having parts connected together by connecting means madein accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary exploded perspective view of said doll of FIG. 1especially showing the connecting portions of the body and arm parts andrelated connecting means of the doll;

FIG. 3 is an exploded cross-sectional view showing connecting meanswhich connect one arm part to the body part;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing the manner in which one armpart is connected to the body part;

FIG. 5 is an exploded cross-sectional view showing connection meanswhich connect the head part to the body part;

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view showing the manner in which the headpart is connected to the body part; and

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view showing the manner in which one legpart is connected to the body part.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION The present invention will be nowdescribed in detail referring to the accompanying drawings whichillustrate one preferred form of connecting means. The doll is shown inthe form of a child and generally comprises the hollow body part 1, thehollow head parts 2, the hollow arm parts 3 and the hollow leg parts 4as its principal parts which are connected together by means ofconnecting means of the invention as will be described in detailhereinafter. All the body, head, arm and leg parts 1, 2, 3 and 4 of thedoll are formed of the same relatively soft flexible synthetic resin andthe connecting means are formed of relatively hard lessflexiblesynthetic resin.

The body part 1 has an integral cervical part 5 in the open upperportion of circular cross section and the cervical part is provided inthe outer periphery with an annular recess 6 between the lower end whichcurves downwardly and outwardly and merges in the rest of the body part1 and the enlarged diameter upper end which forms an annular flange 7for the, purpose to be described hereinbelow. The open lower portion ofthe head part 2 has a reduced diameter opening 8 which is incommunication with the hollow interior of the rest of the head part 2and opens downwardly and an annular recess 9 in a midpoint of the heightof the opening for the purpose to be described hereinbelow. Theconnecting means which connect the lheadpart 2 to the body part 1comprise a first pan-shaped insert member 10 which includes a circularbottom 11 provided with a center opening 13 which hasthe diametersubstan- I tially the same as that of the annular recess 6 in thecervical part 5 and an upright peripheral wall 12 and a secondpan-shaped insert member 20 which has the outer diameter substantially.the same as that of the annular recess 9 and includes a-circular bottom21, an inner upright peripheral wall 22 extending upwardly from theperipheral edge of the bottom and an outer peripheral wall 23 connectedat the upper end to the upper end of the inner peripheral wall 22bymeans of a horizontal annular portion 24. The diameter of the bottom21 is made smaller than the inner diameter of the outer peripheral wall23 so as to define an annular opening 25 which opens downwardly for thepurpose to be described hereinbelow. The diameter of the bottom 21 ofthe second insert member 20 is also smaller than that of the opening 13in the bottom 11 of the first insert member 10 for the purpose as willbe described hereinbelow. The outer diameter of the upright peripheralwall 12 of the first insert member 10 is substantially the same as theinner diameter of the outer peripheral wall 23 of the second insertmember 20. The first and second insert members 10 and 20 are assembledtogether by fitting the outer peripheral wall 23 of the second insertmember 20 on the peripheral wall 12 of the first insert member 10 andsecuring the walls together employing any suitable adhesive so as toform a unitary insert assembly. In connecting the body part 1 and heatpart 2 together employing the thus formed insert assembly, the firstinsert member portion 10 of the insert assembly is first forcibly fittedon the cervical part 5 until the bottom 11 of the insert member seats inthe annular recess 6 in the cervical part and thereafter, the secondinsert member portion 20 of the insert assembly is forcibly fitted inthe annular recess 9 in the lower portion of the head part 2 or viceversa thereby to connect the head part 2 to the body part 1. Suchconnecting operation can be simply and efficiently effected by virtue ofthe fact that the material of the body and head parts] and 2 is moreflexible than the material of the insert members 10 and and yields underthe force required to fit the insert members 10 and 20 on and in thebody and head parts 1 and 2, respectively. Nevertheless, once the bodyand head body parts have been connected together in the manner mentionedabove, these parts will not inadvertently separate from each other whilebeing used.

The arm parts 3 are connected to the body part 1 in the same manner asdescribed hereinabove in connection with the connection of the head part2 to the body part 1 employing similar insert members. For the purpose,each of the shoulder portions of the body part 1 is provided with avertically disposed first circular opening and a second reduced diameteropening 31 in communication on the inner side with the first opening 30and opening on the outer side. The upper end portion of each of theshoulder parts 3 is formed with an annular recess 32 and a flange 33. Inconnecting each of the arm parts 3 to the body part I, an insertassembly identical with that as described in connection with theconnection of the head part 2 to the body part 1 can be employed.Therefore, the diameter of the openings 30 in the body part 1 issubstantially the same as the outer diameter of the second insert member20 and the outer diameter of the flange 33 is substantially the same asthe diameter of the hollow interior of the second insert member 20. Whenit is desired to connect the arm part 3 to the body part I, the firstinsert member 10 is first forcibly fitted on the arm part 3 until thebottom 13 of the insert member seats in the recess 32 in the arm part 3and the second insert member 20 is then forcibly fitted in the opening30 of the body part 1 until the second insert member is completelyreceived in the opening 30 or vice versa. Thus, the arm part 3 can beconnected to the body part 1 against inad? vertent separation from thelatter.

For connecting the leg parts 4 to the body part 1, the lower portion thebody part 1 is provided with a pair of annular recesses 34 (only one ofthe recesses is shown in FIG. 7) in diametrically opposite positionsthereof and a pair of reduced diameter openings (not shown) incommunication on the inner side with the associated recesses 34 andopening on the outer side and the upper end portion'of each of the legparts 4 is provided with an annular flange 35 at the extreme end and anannular recess (not shown) positioned inwardly of the flange. Theconnecting means for connecting each of the leg parts 4 to the body part1 is also identical with that described in connection with theconnection of the head part 2 to the body part 1 and accordingly, thediameter of the openings 34 is substantially the same as that of thesecond insert member 34 and the diameter of the annular recesses in theleg parts 4 is substantially the same as that of the center opening inthe first insert member 10. In connecting each of the leg parts 4 to thebody part 1, the first insert member portion of the insert assembly isfirst forcibly fitted on the leg part 4 until the bottom 11 of the firstinsert member 10 seats in the recess in the leg part and the secondinsert member portion of the insert-assembly is then forcibly fitted inthe body part until the insert member seats in the opening 34 ofthe'body part 1. In this way, the body part 1, the head part 2, the armparts 3 and the leg parts 4 are connected together against inadvertentseparation from each other while allowing the parts to move relative toeach other to obtain a complete doll in the form of a child as shown inFIG. 1.

Since the novel connecting means connect the various parts of the dolltogether against inadvertent separation from each other, but still allowthe user to move the parts relative to each other, in playing at thedoll, the user can move the doll parts in any desired manner at will.Furthermore, since the connecting means seal off the openings in theconnected portions of the doll parts, the connecting means concurrentlyserve as means for preventing water and the like from invading into thehollow interiors of the connected doll parts. Although description hasbeen made in connection with an instance in which the connecting meansof the invention is employed for connecting the parts of a simulatedhuman doll together, the connecting means can be also widely employedfor connecting various parts of simulated animal and other shape dolls.Furthermore, since the connecting means of the invention are simple inconstruction and can be produced on a mass production scale, it will beapparent to those skilled in the art that the invention will contributeto the industry to which the invention pertains.

In the foregoing, the invention has been described with reference to aspecific illustrative embodiment. It will be evident, however, thatvariations and modifications as well as the substitution of equivalentparts or elements for those shown herein for illustration, may be madewithout departing from the broader scope of the invention as set forthin the appended claims. The specification and drawings are accordinglyto be regarded in an illustrative rather than in a restrictive sense.

What is claimed is:

1. Connecting means in combination with at least two relatively softflexible synthetic resin parts of a doll, said connecting meanscomprising a relatively hard less flexible unitary insert assembly whichincludes a first pan-shaped insert member adapted to be connected to oneof two doll parts to be connected together and a larger diameter secondpan-shaped insert member to be connected to the other part of said partsto be connected together and receiving said first insert member, saidfirst insert member having a circular bottom and provided with a centeropening and an upright peripheral wall; said second insert member havinga center circular bottom the diameter of which is smaller than that ofsaid first insert member, an inner upright peripheral wall extendingupwardly from the periphery of said bottom and an outer uprightperipheral wall spaced from and connected to said inner wall so as todefine an annular opening therebetween for receiving said peripheralwall of the first insert member; the first of said doll parts having anupper end forming an annular flange, said annular flange connected toand mounted upon said upper end to provide an annular recess betweensaid flange and said upper end, said center opening of said first insertmember having a diameter substantially the same as the diameter of saidannular recess of said first of said doll parts; the second of said dollparts having a circular opening at one end thereof and said openingcommunicating with a circular hollow interior portion of said second ofsaid doll parts, said circular hollow interior portion having an innerdiameter greater than the diameter of said circular opening and saidcircular hollow interior portion having an inner diameter substantiallythe same as the upright peripheral walls of said second insert member. k

1. Connecting means in combination with at least two relatively softflexible synthetic resin parts of a doll, said connecting meanscomprising a relatively hard less flexible unitary insert assembly whichincludes a first pan-shaped insert member adapted to be connected to oneof two doll parts to be connected together and a larger diameter secondpan-shaped insert member to be connected to the other part of said partsto be connected together and receiving said first insert member, saidfirst insert member having a circular bottom and provided with a centeropening and an upright peripheral wall; said second insert member havinga center circular bottom the diameter of which is smaller than that ofsaid first insert member, an inner upright peripheral wall extendingupwardly from the periphery of said bottom and an outer uprightperipheral wall spaced from and connected to said inner wall so as todefine an annular opening therebetween for receiving said peripheralwall of the first insert member; the first of said doll parts having anupper end forming an annular flange, said annular flange connected toand mounted upon said upper end to provide an annular recess betweensaid flange and said upper end, said center opening of said first insertmember having a diameter substantially the same as the diameter of saidannular recess of said first of said doll parts; the second of said dollparts having a circular opening at one end thereof and said openingcommunicating with a circular hollow interior portion of said second ofsaid doll parts, said circular hollow interior portion having an innerdiameter greater than the diameter of said circular opening and saidcircular hollow interior portion having an inner diameter substantiallythe same as the outer diameter of said outer peripheral wall of saidsecond insert member; such that said first insert member is adapted tobe fitted into said annular recess of said first of said doll parts andsaid outer peripheral wall of the second insert member being adapted toenable said second insert member to fit into said circular hollowinterior portion of said second doll part; whereby the two doll partsare connected to each other when saId peripheral wall of said firstinsert member is inserted into said annular opening between said innerand outer upright peripheral walls of said second insert member.